


Unsettled

by little0bird



Series: Stolen Time [14]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Ariana gets salty, Dumbledore guilt, Unresolved guilt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-17
Updated: 2019-08-17
Packaged: 2020-09-06 05:34:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20286232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/little0bird/pseuds/little0bird





	Unsettled

Ariana approached the tall, thin man with flowing silver hair and a beard to match. 'Albus!' she said delightedly. She ran with coltish grace to her elder brother and threw her arms around him. 'Oh, Albus…'

Albus looked down at her, his fingers tracing over the lines of her face. The light in her eyes was what it had been before… Before she had been attacked by those boys. 'Ariana…' he breathed.

Ariana's fingers traced over the ridges and furrows of her brother's lined face. 'Have you a life on your conscience?' she asked, almost playfully.

'A great many,' he told her, capturing her wrists in his hands. 'Yours, first and foremost.'

Childlike, Ariana snuggled against Albus. 'I don't even know whose spell it was,' she told him. 'You ought not to blame yourself.'

Albus tucked a strand of hair away from Ariana's eyes. 'But I do. If I hadn't…'

Ariana shook her head. 'I was glad it happened,' she insisted. 'It was a terrible way to live.' She leaned against Albus, her head resting on his shoulder. 'I had no control of my magic and no desire to use it at all. I was miserable. It was a relief when it was over.' She rose on her toes and kissed Albus' cheek. 'Did you ever think about it like that?'

'No.'

She tossed her hair over her shoulder and snorted derisively. 'Of course you didn't.' She started to walk away. 'You always did think about yourself first, Albus.'


End file.
